Donald Trump fast-tracks Supreme Court successor to Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Donald Trump vows to quickly nominate a successor, likely a woman, to replace Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the Supreme Court.
Donald Trump on Sunday AEST vowed to quickly nominate a successor, likely a woman, to replace late Supreme Court judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg, only a day after the death of the liberal stalwart.
The US election has been turned on its head by the death of liberal Justice Ginsburg, with the President pushing to replace her with a conservative before the election. Such a move would guarantee a conservative majority on the Supreme Court for decades with profound consequences on issues like gun rights, abortion laws, discrimination, criminal justice, immigration and religion.
Justice Ginsburg’s death at the age of 87 from pancreatic cancer just six weeks from the election has energised and further divided both sides of US politics.
Glowing plaudits for Justice Ginsburg’s path-breaking legal career as a fighter for women’s rights and an icon of American liberals were quickly overshadowed by the fight over her now vacant seat.
Mr Trump called on Senate Republicans to replace Justice Ginsburg immediately while his Democrat opponent Joe Biden has demanded that no replacement be made until a new president is sworn in — the position Republicans took with Barack Obama’s pick to replace conservative Antonin Scalia in 2016.
“I think it’s going to move quickly actually,” Mr Trump said on Saturday (Sunday AEST) outside the White House, adding that he thought his choice would be made “next week”.
“Most likely it would be a woman,” he said.
Mr Trump told Republicans that they had a mandate to replace Justice Ginsburg regardless of how close the election was.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has promised to bring the issue to a vote in the Senate where the Republicans hold a 53-47 majority.
“(We) will receive a vote on the floor of the United States Senate,” Senator McConnell said.
It is unclear if Senator McConnell will have the numbers.
Moderate Republican senator Susan Collins said that the winner of the election must be the one to nominate a successor.
“In fairness to the American people, who will either be re-electing the President or selecting a new one, the decision on a lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court should be made by the President who is elected on November 3,” she tweeted, urging the Senate not to vote on a nominee before the poll.
Fellow Republican moderate Lisa Murkowski said prior to Justice Ginsburg’s death she would not support an election-year nomination. Four Republicans would need to cross the floor to defeat any nomination.
Mr Biden said Mr Trump should wait until after the November 3 election before filling the position. “There is no doubt, let me be clear, that the voters should pick the president and the president should pick the justice to consider,” he said. “This was the position the Republican Senate took in 2016, when there were nearly nine months before the election. That is the position the United States Senate must take now, when the election is less than two months away. We are talking about the Constitution and the Supreme Court. That institution should not be subject to politics.”
In 2016 Senator McConnell used the looming election to justify blocking Mr Obama’s pick, saying “the American people should have a voice” in the selection of a new Supreme Court judge “therefore this vacancy should not be filled until we have a new president”. Democrat Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer tweeted Senator McConnell’s 2016 words verbatim.
Democrats have no way to prevent the Senate from confirming a judge so long as Republicans have a majority. But it was unclear whether Republicans would have time to hold confirmation hearings for a nominee with only six weeks left until the election.
Mr Trump has chosen two conservative appointments during his first term, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, giving the nine- member court a 5-4 conservative majority. The appointment of another conservative would give them a 6-3 majority, giving the court far more leeway to implement conservative rulings. Mr Trump has three leading contenders for the vacancy — Amy Coney Barrett of the US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in Chicago, Barbara Lagoa of the 11th Circuit in Atlanta and Amul Thapar of the Sixth Circuit in Cincinnati.
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